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Crimzon5 -> Negative Zone (12/1/2008 3:39:43)
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Comments: http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=14103588
Brian was just an average sixteen-year-old student. He would often daydream during lectures that failed to interest him, and only study on the day before an announced quiz. When it came to sports, he would usually excel. However, there was something–– no, someone–– that his life lacked… a father.
Brian lived with his annulled mother Erika. Ever since his father left them, a seed of hatred sprouted in his heart. The more he saw others having fun with their fathers, the more the hatred for his parent grew. Aside from doing chores, he would run errands for their neighbors to help his mom. One thing he regretted was the lack of time with his mother. When the sun would rise in the morning, a few minutes before Brian would get up, Erika would have to leave for work, and then return only to see her son sound asleep. The two only had time for each other on Sundays, on a regular basis that is.
Similar to Brian was a girl named Stephanie. But instead of having no father, her mother died in a car accident when she was only 2. Because of this, she would often dream about having a mother, unlike Brian who would never trust anyone as a father.
As the morning bell rang, Brian slammed his locker shut. The hall was filled with people who were enjoying their last five minutes before classes. Now the student had to dodge and cut his way through the crowds. Before he entered his classroom which was located on the second floor of the building, he knelt to tie his shoelaces. But as he did, a girl who was listening to her mp3player tripped on him.
“Oh, sorry. I guess tying my shoelace here was a bad idea,” the boy apologized as he offered his hand.
“No, it’s my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going. That usually happens in the chorus of this song.” Getting up, the girl removed her earphones and placed them in her pocket. Accepting his hand in order to get up, Stephanie recognized the boy’s face. “Oh, it’s you, Brian. Can I have my apology back?” Brian smiled, giving off a short and almost unnoticeable laugh.
As soon as Stephanie stood on her two legs straight, Brian opened the door and entered. Two hours had passed and Brian decided to skip his recess just to help his mom save. Even though that he loved his mother, he would often lie to her about eating his recess as he would secretly put some of his money back in her purse. Actually, Erika’s work could already sustain the family’s needs but when they save enough, she would take a day off–– that was why Brian would return a portion of his allowance.
“Hey, aren’t you going to go outside?” Stephanie asked as she took a bite off her sandwich.
“Nah,” he instantly replied. “I can stay as long as I don’t eat anything, unlike you.” Brian took his guitar and began stringing it. Some of his friends started to play with him too. Fliers about an event called “The Battle of the Bands” were posted around some corners in the campus. The best band would receive twenty thousand Pesos as the prize, and this caught his eye right away.
It’s like a never knew you, a silhouette on your face
My memories are gone but I don’t want them to fade
I tried running away but I quickly lost my pace
Everything about me is just starting to degrade
As they finished the last chorus of Negative Zone, a song written by Brian, the bell rang. “Perfect timing guys. Let’s practice again tomorrow at my place, kay?” The group nodded and returned their instruments to their cases.
“Great song,” commented a music teacher who just happened to pass by, “I could hear it from the hall.”
“Heh, thanks,” Brian replied with a smile.
Classes resumed again. It was biology. At the end of the session, the teacher assigned the class to form groups of two. A female student was required to be paired with a male student. “Your assignment is to construct a Punnett square showing what traits a person would have with you as his or her parents.”
“Sir, There are more boys than girls. Can I team up with Carl?” Brian asked in a joking tone.
“Is that so?” The teacher thought for a while and continued, “Carl, team up with Kristen. Brian, team up with Stephanie.” The class teased each group assigned by their teacher, and laughed. “Everyone one who was failed to be mentioned, AKA: the boys who won’t have a partner, should pass a paper about Gregor Mendel instead.” Brian sighed as he shook his head.
“I’ll head over to your place after school, okay?” Stephanie asked.
“Sure,” the boy replied. “It’ll feel good to have company as I watch some TV. With all the assignments, none of my friends had time to shoot some hoops with me.”
“Hey, we can do our homework together as well. How about it?”
“It’s a deal.”
As classes were concluded with a prayer, Brian visited his locker. The combination of his lock was 7-3-1. After taking the necessary materials, and depositing the unneeded books, he met up with his classmate by the drinking fountain. “Ready to go?” Stephanie nodded after wiping her lips as Brian led the way. “It’s a sure thing I live near school; the price of gas nowadays is going up. Well actually, it just went down from forty Pesos to thirty-nine Pesos per liter.”
“Good for you,” she giggled.
Brian’ house was just a ten minute’s walk away. Blocking the door, the main entrance to his house, was the garage’s gate. A portion of the said brown gate was a smaller gate, same of height with the rest of the access way, but consisting a fifth of the whole thing’s width. There were steel bars above it, allowing the owner, who was aware of it being unlocked, to insert his hand. As he reached for the lock, he felt a small knob and turned it. After this, he pushed the door open. “I’m home! Not that anyone is here to greet me. Hey, Steph, want a snack?”
“No thanks. Save the bag of chips for the TV. So, how are we going to represent our Punnett square?”
“Well… we could list down some traits which our parents and grandparents have. After that, we’ll divide them into two groups: recessive and dominant. Then we do the intersecting… we’ll that’s how I think we do it. I wasn’t exactly paying attention. I’ll just go get some Manila paper, k?”
“Sure,” his partner replied. Wow, this activity must be painful for Brian… I wonder what traits he got from his father, she thought in her head.
As Ryan entered his mother’ room to get some paper, he was surprised by the person whom he saw–– his mother. “Oh wait for a sec; my son just arrived home. Lowering the phone and covering the speaker with her left hand, she greeted her son. “Hi Brian. I had the day off and I wanted to surprise you so I parked the car somewhere else.” Brian approached her and gave her cheek a kiss.
“Thanks Mom. I have a friend over; we need to do a project, is that okay?”
“It’ all right with me. Just don’t forget to offer him something.”
“Umm, I already did, but she refused. She’ll stay up to 8:00 PM, ok?”
“It’s okay with me. So, how’s she getting home?” Before Brian could respond, Erika answered herself. “I know, I’ll drive her. It’s too dangerous for a girl to commute on a tricycle all alone at the night.” Brian nodded and knelt as he opened a drawer. Flipping some papers, while checking if there was still some Manila paper, the boy couldn’t stop himself from overhearing his mother’s conversation. The fun his mother was having indicated that the person she was talking with was either a close friend or relative. As he finished getting the paper and a few colored pentel pen markers, he heard the words “I love you, too” coming from his mother’s lips. Brian got up right away and ran back to Stephanie.
“I have a problem: my mom has a boyfriend.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Stephanie unfolded the Manila paper and made a table with a black marker. “I actually envy you; you’re going to have both a mother and a father. All I have is a father. It’s not that I don’t appreciate him; it’s just that I know it’s easier to open up with your mom if you’re a girl.” Brian gave no reply as he watched her create rows and columns.
“Good news!” Erika shouted as she entered the living room. “I’m getting married.” Seeing her son work with Stephanie, she asked, “So, who’s your friend?”
“She’s––“
“Hi Miss Mendoza. I’m Stephanie, Brian’s classmate obviously. Congratulations by the way. So, who’s the lucky man?” she teased. Brian grabbed the marker from her and continued the assignment.
“Oh, his name is Ramon. A coworker of mine.”
“Oh what a coincidence, my dad is named Ramon too!”
“Hey Steph, where do I put our names?” Brian interrupted.
“Let me handle our names. I remember you writing my surname as Jantas. It’s Santos, not Jantas, ok?”
“Hey, our teacher just has an eye problem, that’s all. The S just looked like a J to him,” Brian reasoned out.
“Umm, excuse me; did you say your last name was Santos?” Brian’s mom asked surprisingly.
“Yes, why?”
“My fiancé has the same name. But Santos is a common Filipino name. It’s not like your father is the same guy right? He said that he was a widower when I noticed him check the box that says he’s single but he was wearing a ring.”
“If he asked you by phone then he doesn’t have the guts,” ranted Brian.
The two females ignored him and continued their conversation. “Oh my gosh! My dad’s a widower too! I always dreamed of having a mom. I can’t wait till he gets home; I’m going to ask him about this.” Brian remained silent and cursed silently. His tenseness and anger made him write dark and thick strokes. “Easy on the ink, Brian. Pentel pens usually dry quick if you use them like that.”
Don’t take this seriously Stephanie… I’m okay with you as a sister but I don’t want a father. My mom was hurt so badly last time, and I won’t let anyone hurt again.
It was morning again, a Friday morning to be exact. Aside from being a day before the weekend, school was going to end at 4 PM, so Brian made plans for a practice. Pissed off with what happened the recent day, Brian approached Stephanie, who was chatting with her friends. “Can I have a minute with you?”
“Sure,” she replied.
“So, what happened last night with your father?”
“Oh yeah. Guess what, we’re going to be a family! I was so excited that I told our class adviser and a few friends of course. As Brian cursed, the bell rang, censoring his words.
As the teacher entered the room, she hammered her table with her palm. “I have an announcement. Two of your classmates are about to become stepsiblings!” The class cheered as Brian and Stephanie were made to stand up. Brian hid his anger with a smile as he clapped. As classes ended with another prayer, handkerchiefs and paper balls were thrown all over place. Brian grabbed his bag and guitar case as he left.
“Hey, wait up!” Brennan, the band’s drummer, called. “Carl and the others are still in the classroom. Aren’t ya gonna wait?”
“I’ll go ahead. Tell them to just follow.” Brennan remained silent and returned to the rest of the band.
As Brian opened the small garage door, he noticed his mom’s Toyota parked inside. This made him think if the car parked across the street belonged to Stephanie’s father. As he entered the door, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
“Boo!”
“Hehe, sorry Steph, but it’ll take more to surprise me.” As he entered the house, he dropped his bag on the floor. As he unbuttoned his linen polo shirt, a familiar woman’s voice called him.
“Hi sweetie. Brian, this is Ramon, Stephanie’s father.” The boy opened his eyes tensely but gave no noticeable reply. As Stephanie approached the adults to greet her dad, Brian shook his head and slammed the door upon his exit. The loud sound implied that he was caught in a bad mood. Erika and Ramon followed him outside. Brian leaned on a mango tree, waiting for his friends to come. “Brian, is there a problem?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?! I’m part of the family, how come my opinion doesn’t count?” Brian turned the opposite direction, hiding his teary eyes.
“Brian––“
“No, just let him be. It will take some time for him to accept me,” interrupted Ramon. The boy wiped his tears off as the two left him.
It was Saturday. As Brian got up from bed, he took some clothes from a cabinet, and took a shower. The warm water tried to release his stress, but the fact that he didn’t know what to do bothered him. He was still a bit drowsy– he was, until a sudden beep woke up his system. Him again... Brian turned the valve, stopping the flow of water. He dressed up as fast as he could. Upon exiting the bathroom, he noticed Stephanie’s father waiting in the living room. His mother wasn’t around. She must’ve let him in and left for a while, he thought.
Making his way towards the man, Brian grabbed his guitar case, planning to head out for a while. But as he did, his mother’s fiancé called his attention. “What do you want?” he hostilely replied.
“Brian, what is your problem with me?”
“Do you need to ask that? It’s obvious that I don’t want you here! My life was perfect until you showed up! You’re just going to make things the way they were before! I hated those times; my father cheated on us and didn’t even argue with my mom about who’s gonna keep me.”
“Stephanie has learned quickly to accept your mother. So what makes it hard to accept me? I am not your original father; I am not the man that abandoned you.” Brian replied with silence. “Brian, if you really love your mother, then why are you making things hard for her?” Those words struck the boy in his heart. “If you want her to be happy, then why aren’t you changing things? Did you know that she spent the night crying because of you? Did you know that she was crying also on the days before last night? If you want her to be happy, you should accept me in the family with open arms.”
Brian dropped his instrument and quickly ran back to his room. Ramon followed, but his entry was provoked as the boy locked his room. “Open the door, Brian. Open the door.” A few minutes later, Erika arrived at the scene. The man explained to her what happened. Disappointed with the situation, Erika grabbed a spare key from her purse and unlocked the door. A mess greeted them as they entered the room. The windows were open and Brian was nowhere to be found. One the floor was the lyrics of his song. The last stanza was written with a different color of ink:
And I thought that I could answer any question
But what is causing me to act like this?
“I’m sorry, I made a mistake” – a big confession
This-negative-zone-has-taken all my bliss
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